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Column:
For city of Bridgeport, 'evolution' is watchword
By
RICHARD MEEHAN With ANDY THIBAULT
For the Norwich Bulletin
September 24, 2006
Editor's
note: This column, excerpted from "Payoff: Tales Of Political
Corruption in Connecticut and Throughout the USA," is available for
reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
Bridgeport has been the home of legendary circus promoter P.T. Barnum, a
police chief who outwitted the FBI, a socialist mayor who believed God
should take care of snow removal because he put it there, and my father,
Richard T. Meehan Sr.
The city, on the north shore of Long Island Sound, is like the giant bear
in the room of Connecticut's moneyed Gold Coast.
Bridgeport was at the epicenter of manufacturing in World War II, boasting
such manufacturing giants as General Electric and Remington Arms. It was
reputed to be the sixth-largest industrial city in the nation. The
prosperity that came with this economic success was reflected in the
stately homes and expanding entertainment venues. Nightclubs and theaters
graced the downtown.
After the war, most of the manufacturing jobs were lost to cheaper labor
pools in the South and eventually overseas. The large factories were
silent, decaying testaments to what the city once was. As the city aged
and decayed, it became a symbol for the growing phenomenon of white flight
and urban blight. Where there were once stately neighborhoods, there were
now public housing projects, as a growing number of the city's population
became dependent on public assistance.
As mayor, Barnum had built a magnificent development in East Bridgeport
that surrounded Washington Park. The homes were architectural treasures.
As the blight proliferated, Washington Park became home to junkies and
drug dealers. The magnificent mansions that ringed it became crack houses
and fire hazards. The murder rate increased almost exponentially.
The construction of nearby suburban malls led to the eventual closing of
the large department stores that graced the downtown. The restaurants and
nightclubs were gone and the theaters were abandoned. Bridgeport was a
dying city.
It was to this evolution in Bridgeport my dad, Richard T. Meehan Sr.,
returned from his service in World War II. He met and married my mom and
eventually joined the city's police department.
After five years of walking a beat, he enrolled at the University of
Bridgeport. For five years, he worked days and took night classes. After
graduation, he attended the University of Connecticut Law School,
commuting by train each night for four years. He'd leave books at the
Homeport Restaurant on the city's east side, stopping on his rounds to
duck in the back and study.
To some degree, I view politics and the world through the prism of
Bridgeport. I grew up watching my dad practice law in Bridgeport -- always
on the straight and narrow path. Many years later, I would get an inside
look at politics as an alderman and then as a defense attorney in what
would become the largest municipal corruption case in Connecticut history.
Bridgeport attorney Richard Meehan Jr. was lead defense counsel for
former Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim's corruption trial. He is a past
president of the Greater Bridgeport Bar Association and appears regularly
on Court TV. Andy Thibault, author of "Law & Justice In Everyday
Life" and a private investigator, is an adjunct lecturer of English
and a mentor in the master of fine arts writing program at Western
Connecticut State University. Web site: http://www.andythibault.com/
Blog: www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
LINK:
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060924/OPINION/609240320/1014/OPINION
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